Art of making watch-springs



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J. LOGAN. ART OF MAKING WATCH SPRINGS.

No. 337,690. PatentedMar. 9, 1886.

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JOHN LOGAN, OF YVALTHAM, MASSACHUSETTS.

ART OF MAKING WATCH-SPRINGS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 337,690, dated March 9, 1886.

Application filed January 18, 1886. Serial No. 188,936.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN LOGAN, of Waltham, county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Methods of Making VVatch-Springs, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

My invention is embodied in a method of making watch-springs, by which the cost of the springs is greatly diminished and the quality of the product improved and rendered more uniform than when made by the method heretofore practiced.

In the method heretofore followed pieces of sheet-steel of the proper thickness for the springs and of a width sufficient for a large number of springs are first cut into lengths about two or three inches greater than that desired for the finished springs, and are then cut into strips of the proper width for the springs by means of shears, thus forming blanks, each of substantially the size of the finished springs. The said blanks or short strips are then stretched in pairs between suitable holding-clamps, somewhat like pianostrings, with their faces or flat sides opposite one another and a short distance apart, and their edges are then rubbed down by pairs of files held in the hands of an operator and moved back and forth along the edges of the ribbon until they are smooth or the burr left by the shears removed. The blanks, with their edges thus smoothed, are then bent around into hoop form and have their ends tied together, and a number of them are piled in a stack and heated in a furnace, and then immersed in a cooling-liquid to harden them. After being hardened the strips are stretched between clamps on an instrument resembling a violinbow and drawn over a heated surface or stove, to draw the temper and make the strips sufficiently tough to bear the subsequent operations. They are then again stretched between the clamps face to face, and their edges polished by rubbing-instruments moved back and forth by hand along their edges, then stretched edge to edge and their faces polished in a similar manner, and finally drawn again over a heated surface to give the final temper and oxidize the surface to produce the desired color for the finished springs.

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tions, which have been held in the clamps during the various operations described, and which cannot be acted upon by the different tools, then have to be removed and wasted, making about ten per cent. waste of the stock used.

My invention consists, mainly, in performing all the operations upon long strips of ribbon-usually from two hundred and fifty to three hundred feet long, sufficient for one hundred springs or moreand finally cutting the long strip into the proper lengths for the separate springs, making but very little waste, as only short pieces at each end of the long strips have to be discarded.

In order to perform the various operations upon the long strips properly and expeditiously, I have devised various machines and appliances, most of which have formed the subject of other applications for Letters Patent, some of which have been granted and others of which are still pending, and which will be herein referred to, in order to show suitable means for performing the different operations, although it is obvious that other machinery or appliances might be used, and the present invention is not limited to any special appliances for performing any of the operations.

The drawings show in diagram sufficient portions of each of the machines or appliances for performing the difierent operations to enable the present invention to be understood, the framework and specific details of the various machines or appliances being omitted.

In making watch-springs in accordance with the present invention, long strips of sheetsteel A, Figure 1, usually from two hundred and fifty to three hundred feet long, are cut by a gang of revolving cutters, B, of well known construction, into a series of strips or ribbons, a, each of the strips being of the en tire length of the strip A and of proper width to form the springs after having undergone the various subsequent operations. These ribbons are wound upon the supporting-reels C, Fig. 2, and the next operation is to file or smooth the edges for the purpose of removing the burr made by the cutters B and bringing the ribbons to a uniform standard width.

The filing operation may be performed, as

The end porshown at Fig. 2, by drawing the ribbon along between a pair of files, D, which may be done by winding it upon a reel, 0, similar to the one C, from which it is drawn or unwound in the process. If necessary to subject the ribbon to the action of the files D more than once, it may be drawn back again in the opposite direction through the files, being wound upon the reel 0 and drawn off from the reel G. A machine for performing this operation, having suitable appliances for holding the files, actuating the reels, and holding the ribbon in proper position at the point acted upon by the'files, has been shown and described by me in another application for Letters Patent, Serial No. 159,811, filed March 23, 1885; to which reference may be had. The'next step in the process is to polish the edges or pro vide a finer surface than is left by the files, and at the same time somewhat round them or remove the sharp corners, which operation may be performed by an apparatus such as shown in Fig. 3, comprising reels 0 c", the former being, for instance, the reel upon which the ribbon was finally wound in the apparatus shown in Fig. 2, the said reels being removable from the different machines, so that the rib bon may be taken upon a reel directly from one machine to another without an additional process of winding and unwinding. The ribbon is drawn from one to the other of the reels shown in Fig. 3 through a polishing-instrument, which may consist of a carriage, E, havingv a vibratory movement parallel with the length of the ribbon and provided with polishing or rubbing devices E, properly presented to the edges of the ribbon, being drawn or fed along between them. An apparatus for performing this operation has been shown and described in application Serial No. 160,143, filed March 27, 1885.

The operations thus far described have been performed upon the ribbon in its soft and untempered condition, and the next step in the process as performed by me is to harden the ribbon, which may be effected in any suitable or usual manner, there being several different kinds of appliances for hardening or tempering steel in long thin strips or ribbons. The operation is preferably performed in an apparatus such as shown in Fig. 4 and fully described in Letters Patent N 0. 297,610, granted to me April 29, 1884, to which reference may be had, the ribbon being'heated to the de sired temperature in a metal box, F, while in a compact coil in the interior of the said box, and then drawn out from the said box through a bath, F, for suddenly cooling and hardening it, being wound upon a reel, G, as it issues from the bath. The box Fprotects the ribbon from the direct action of the fire and from the oxidizing effect of the air or other gases, so that the hardened ribbon retains the finish left by the machine shown in Fig. 3. The temper is'then drawn, which may be done by an apparatus such as shown in Fig. 5, being unwound from the reel G and wound upon a reel, H, and passing from one to the other 'over a heated surface, K, which may consist of a suitably-shaped'iron shell heated by a gas-flame, as shown, the movement of the ribbon being of proper speed to cause the different parts to be heated uniformly and to the desired temperature to give it the toughness and elasticity required for undergoing the subsequent operations. The next operation is preferably to again polish the edges, which may be done by an instrument similar to that shown in Fig. 3, before referred to, and then to smooth or level the'stock by an instrument such as shown in Fig. 6, consisting of a pair of reels, between which the ribbon isfed, as before described, through I a polishing or rubbing instrument, m, which has a reciprocating movement in a path inclined to the direction of the ribbon, so that it has a movement equivalent to a-movement lengthwise of the ribbon, and also transverse to it, by which any unevenness or departure from a plane in the opposite faces of the ribbon is ground off or removed. An apparatus for performing this operation is fully shown and described in another application for Letters Patent filed herewith. The next step is to pol ish the faces of the ribbon, which may be performed by an apparatus such as shown in Fig. 7, consisting of a series of polishing-wheels, N, which act alternately on the opposite faces of the ribbon,which passes over one and under the next, and so on,being fed from one reel to another, as in the other machines. A complete apparatus for performing this operation has been shown and described by mein Letters Patent No. 328,125, granted to me October 13, 1885. The next step is to again heat the ribbon, so as to give it the final temper and oxidize its surface to produce the desired color, which may be performed by apparatus such as shown in Fig. 5, and the final operation is to cut the long strips, which are finished and tempered uniformly throughout their entire length, into short pieces a, (see Fig.8,) each of the proper length for a mainspring, and punching or otherwise finishing the ends in the usual manner, to provide means for attaching them' to the cooperating parts of the watch.

Some of the steps hereinenumerated may be omitted, and at the same time produce springs of sufficiently good quality for many purposes; but in order to produce the highest grade and the most perfect finish, it is preferable to perform all the steps herein enumerated and in the order described.

' I am aware that spring-steel ribbon has been made in continuous lengths for some purposes; but such ribbon is only subjected to two or three of the-steps herein described, and is not suitable and cannot-be used for watch-springs.

1. That improvement in the art or method of making watch-springs which consists in first cutting strips of sheet-steel into narrow rib bons, filing the edges of the said ribbons, hardening and tempering the same, polishing the tempered ribbons, and finally cutting them into lengths sufficient for the separate springs, substantially as described.

2. That improvement in the art or method of making watch-springs which consists in cutting strips of sheet-steel into ribbons, filing the. edges of the said ribbons, polishing the edges of the said ribbons, hardening and tempering the same, polishing the tempered ribbons, and finally cutting them into lengths suitable for separate springs,substantially as described.

8. That improvement in the art or method of making watch-springs which consists in cutting long strips of sheet-steel into ribbons, hardening and tempering the said ribbons, polishing the edges and faces of the tempered ribbons, and cutting them into lengths suit able for separate springs, substantially as described.

4. That improvement in the art or method of making watch-springs which consists in providing blanks or ribbons, hardening and tempering the said ribbons, polishing the edges and faces thereof, and heating the said ribbons to oxidize and color their surface, and finally cutting them into lengths suitable for separate springs, substantially as described.

5. That improvement in the art or method of making watch springs which consists in cutting long strips of sheet-steel into separate ribbons of proper width for watch-springs and of a length equal to that of many springs, filing the edges thereof, polishing the filed edges, hardening and tempering the ribbons, again polishing the edges, then leveling the flat surfaces, then polishing the said surfaces, then reheating the ribbons to develop the desired color, and finally cutting the ribbons into lengths suitable for separate springs, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof Ihave signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN LOGAN.

\Vitncsses:

Jos. P. LIvERMoRn, H. P. Barns. 

